Safe Speed gaining political ground
Discussion
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Camera policy will cost lives: Tories
Terry Dick, Chairman of the Conservative Party's East Belfast Constituency Association, today warned that lives will be lost as a result of Secretary of State Paul Murphy's determination to push ahead with the introduction of more speed cameras.
Speaking following a recent meeting on the subject of speed cameras, which the Association hosted, and a recent announcement by the Secretary of State that a further six to ten fixed cameras would be introduced in the next six months, Terry Dick said: “There is no longer any doubt in my mind that the speed camera policy is not just a failure, it is a disaster. Having listened to Paul Smith of the Safespeed Campaign setting out the evidence against the policy, and having noted the failure of the Northern Ireland Safety Camera Partnership to respond to his claims and challenge his assertions, I have concluded that it is Safespeed's arguments which carry credibility. "Throughout the United Kingdom there is widespread cynicism and scepticism about speed cameras, and it is quite evident that many leading politicians are coming to the same conclusion. That Paul has been invited to Westminster to address MPs on the subject shows the extent to which the evidence he has researched is being taken seriously. "In Northern Ireland a programme to introduce speed cameras has only just begun. In GB there is ten years experience of the policy. Tellingly, since the introduction of speed cameras there has been a loss of the long term declining trend of road accident deaths. Had that trend continued more than 5,000 people would be alive today. "Just at the moment when the policy is becoming discredited in GB it is being introduced to Northern Ireland. Yet there is now a real possibility that the camera policy will be abandoned due to its failure to deliver road safety improvements and because of overwhelming public hostility. In view of this, the introduction of more cameras to Northern Ireland at this time would be a complete folly. We should wait and see how the current debate on the policy and existing cameras is concluded. "However, there is a further aspect of this policy that alarms me, and that is its capacity to drive a wedge between the public and the police. This is bad enough in any normal society, but in our local circumstances it is reckless for the government to force such a policy on the police at this time.”
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Best Regards,
Paul Smith
Safe Speed
www.safespeed.org.uk
Camera policy will cost lives: Tories
Terry Dick, Chairman of the Conservative Party's East Belfast Constituency Association, today warned that lives will be lost as a result of Secretary of State Paul Murphy's determination to push ahead with the introduction of more speed cameras.
Speaking following a recent meeting on the subject of speed cameras, which the Association hosted, and a recent announcement by the Secretary of State that a further six to ten fixed cameras would be introduced in the next six months, Terry Dick said: “There is no longer any doubt in my mind that the speed camera policy is not just a failure, it is a disaster. Having listened to Paul Smith of the Safespeed Campaign setting out the evidence against the policy, and having noted the failure of the Northern Ireland Safety Camera Partnership to respond to his claims and challenge his assertions, I have concluded that it is Safespeed's arguments which carry credibility. "Throughout the United Kingdom there is widespread cynicism and scepticism about speed cameras, and it is quite evident that many leading politicians are coming to the same conclusion. That Paul has been invited to Westminster to address MPs on the subject shows the extent to which the evidence he has researched is being taken seriously. "In Northern Ireland a programme to introduce speed cameras has only just begun. In GB there is ten years experience of the policy. Tellingly, since the introduction of speed cameras there has been a loss of the long term declining trend of road accident deaths. Had that trend continued more than 5,000 people would be alive today. "Just at the moment when the policy is becoming discredited in GB it is being introduced to Northern Ireland. Yet there is now a real possibility that the camera policy will be abandoned due to its failure to deliver road safety improvements and because of overwhelming public hostility. In view of this, the introduction of more cameras to Northern Ireland at this time would be a complete folly. We should wait and see how the current debate on the policy and existing cameras is concluded. "However, there is a further aspect of this policy that alarms me, and that is its capacity to drive a wedge between the public and the police. This is bad enough in any normal society, but in our local circumstances it is reckless for the government to force such a policy on the police at this time.”
===============
Best Regards,
Paul Smith
Safe Speed
www.safespeed.org.uk
puggit said:
Paul, although I welcome the comments made I have a few points:
1) Exactly how much clout do the Conservatives have in N Ireland?
2) Will anyone listen?
3) Tell us more about you briefing Westminster?
1) Conservative clout in Northern Ireland is weak, but fast growing. Things are spinning off. I have an invite from Northern Ireland BBC TV to do a chat show on the 21st April.
2) Hell yes. Lots of people are listening. In the last survey 19% of all access to the Safe Speed web site was through Government and Police gateways.
3) The Westminster presentation was a very poorly attended washout, but I have some good resultant contacts. Definitely progress, but slow progress.
Best Regards,
Paul Smith
Safe Speed
www.safespeed.org.uk
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